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Kinross shelves 2020 guidance

Canada's Kinross Gold has withdrawn its full-year 2020 guidance despite the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic not impacting supply chains at its operations in the USA, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Mauritania and Russia at this time.

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The Toronto-based company said Wednesday it expected gold sales to slightly lag the quarter's production figure due to the impacts of the global health crisis on the timing of sales and metal shipments.

Kinross' preliminary March-quarter production, which has only been impacted in part by crisis-related contingency measures, is expected to be about 560,000oz of gold-equivalent, compared with sales of about 540,000oz Au-eq.

To help mitigate operational risks, the company has implemented screening, isolation and quarantine procedures for all employees arriving at Kinross' remote camp-based sites.

Kinross has also drawn down US$750 million from its $1.5 billion revolving credit facility on March 20 as a precautionary measure.

"We are continuously looking at implementing more precautionary and mitigation measures across our company to protect our employees, their families and our host communities," said CEO Paul Rollinson. "We are also focused on ensuring our business continuity plans are sound, and that we are as prepared as possible in this rapidly evolving crisis."

Kinross equity (K:TSX) responded positively to the action, adding 11% or C63c to $6.28 on Wednesday, which capitalises it at $7.9 billion (US$5.6 billion).